Art of knitting



Aug. 20, 1935.

l. c. EB RW ART OF xm'ffmq Filed April 17, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet lINVENTOR. Jaac O fiber-{y ATTORNEY.

I PatentedAug. 20, 19 35 UNITED STATES;-

Parent-emer- 72,011,151: AM or xmrrma Isaac. c. Emu, Reading, rs.Application April 11, 1934, Serial No. 121,010

11 Claims. (Cl. 66-129) My invention is an improvement in the art ofknitting involving an improved apparatus for and method of producing afabric having adjacent groups of wales unequally reenforced during theknitting thereof by utilizing a single carrier to lay a plurality ofoverlapped reenforcing yarns along a portion of a course and layingsingle reenforcing yarn in the course beyond at least one and preferablybeyond both ends of the doubly l0 reenforced section without leaving awide band Y of unreenforced or lightly reenforced wales adjacent to thestocking back seam.

My invention is primarily designed for use with a full-fashionedknitting machine of the so-called 15. Cotton type having a bank ofbearded needles disposed between sinkers and dividers by which coursesof yarn, laid in sequence upon the sinkers by carriers, are bent aroundthe needle shanks and knitted by the downward movement of the needlesinto fabric having loops arranged in courses and wales. Each carrierused to lay a course of yarn for forming or reenforcing differentportions, of the fabric isordinarily attached to a separate carrier rod,of which there are usually seven. These carrier rods are selectivelyreciprocable individually or in groups by a friction box and couliermotion. Such machines are wel'l'known in the art andneed no furtherdescription to those familiar therewith. Certain principles and featuresof my invention are, however, applicable to other types of knittingmachines and methods.

'A leading object of my invention is to minimize-the movements ofcarriers past one another,

and to minimize'the number of carrier. rods in action, in forming aso-called heel-within-aheel in full-fashioned hosiery, or in unequallyreenforcing adjacent groups of wales in other knitted fabric or portionsthereof so as to provide 0 a relatively large number of lightlyreenforced wales at one side only of agroup of heavily reenforced walesand few or no lightly reenforced wales at the other side of the heavilyreenforced group.

45 In accordance with my invention, a single carrier rodmay be utilizedfor laying reenforcing yarns in knitting high heel splicings and heeltabs to heavily reenforce them from a wale adjacent to the fabricselvage across a desired 50 number of wales and to lightly reenforce thefabric for a desired number of wales beyond the heavily reenforcedportion thereof. This greatly improves the appearance and wear of thestocking by permitting the gradual gradation of the fabric from aheavily reenforced high heel splicing through a lightly reenforced groupof wales up to the wale next to the outer selvage wale so as to permitthe seaming of the fabric along 15 the outer selvage wales without theformation of a bulky roll at the seam or any perceptible variation inthe reenforcement at the back of the heel. V

In the knitting of hosiery having a heel-with- 2o in-a-heel, inaccordance with my invention, the yarn forming the main body of thefabric may be laid in any usual or desired manner, and the high splicedsections on opposite sides of the fabric each comprises wales reenforcedby a 5 plurality of reenforcing yarns laid by a; single reenforcingcarrier.

The plurality of reenforcing yarns laid by each carrier are preferablyso controlled, ,that, on movement of the carrier across the 'ne e bed inone direction, the. reenforcing'yarns arefed in closelyjuxtaposedrelation to. one another,,so

that both reenforcing yarns are laid by the carrier substantially to theselvage of the fabric. :But

on the movement of-the carrier across the needle 35 bed in the oppositedirection, the reenforcing yarns are spaced relatively widely from oneanother, so that oneof the reenforcing yarns is laid in the path of asubstantially greater.number of needles than the other reenforoingtyarn.40 When the sinkers, dividers and needles are operated, the loops of thewales which include both reenforcing yarns as well as the main yarn, areheavily reenforced, whereas the loops of wales which include but asingle reenforcing yarn and the main yarn are lightly reenforced, and,the loops of the wales which include only the main yarn are unreenforcedand sheer. f

The control of the feeding positions of the reenforcing yarns, in theopposite movements of the carrier, is preferably effected by providineach reenforcing carrier with a plurality of yarn guides comprisingfeeding apertures or tubes at the end thereof. One of the guide tubes isspread laterally so as to permit the reenforcing yarn passingtherethrough to move from one side to the other side thereof, a distancepreferably equal to the width of six or eight wales. The otherreenforcing yarn is fed through a guide tube or constricted aperturepermitting substantially no lateral travel of the yarn with respectthereto. when the carrier is moved in one direction, the tension on thereenforcing yarn passing through the laterally spread guide tube causesthe yarn to shift laterally until it is in juxtaposition with the wallof the other guide tube or aperture and close to the reenforcing yarnbeing fed from the latter. n the movement of the carrier in the reversedirection, viz., toward the side on which the constricted tube lies, thetension on the'yarn passing through the laterally spread guide tubecauses the yarn to shift to the side of such tube remote from theconstricted guide tube, and consequently the yarn passing through thelaterally spaced tube lags behind the yarn passing through theconstricted tube and does not pass across the stems of the same numberof needles as the yarn passing through the constricted tube before thereversal of'the carrier.

The characteristic features and advantages of my improvements willfiuther appear from the following description and the accompanyingdrawings in illustration thereof.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a fragmentary perspective view illustratingdiagrammatically a knitting head of a typical full-fashioned hosieryknitting machine to which my invention is applied; Fig. 2 is afragmentary diagrammatic view illustrating the laying of yarns by maincarriers and reenforcing carrers in accordance with my invention: Fig. 3is a perspective view of a stocking foot knitted in accordance with myinvention; Fig. 3a is a diagrammatic view of a section of the leg fabriccomprised in the stocking section shown in Fig. 3 before the applicationof the foot to the heel tabs and leg section and the seaming thereof;Fig. 4 is a broken front elevation of carriers comprised in my inventionand a group of carrier rods; Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective view ofthe feeding end of the carrier illustrated in Fig.

4; Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view of the carrier taken on theline 66 of Fig. 4; and Fig. 7 is an enlarged transverse section of thecarrier taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 4.

In the practice of my invention, I preferably utilize a complementarypair of reenforcing or auxiliary carriers each comprising an .aperturedhead A for attachment to a carrier rod and a stem or shank B or B havingattached thereto a pair of parallel guide tubes C and C, a pairof guide7 eyes D and D in alignment with the axes of the tubes C and C, and apair of terminal feeding tubes E and E set in the nose or free end ofthe carrier. v Each carrier shank contains the inclined tapering groovesF and F adjacent to the exit orifices of the tubes C and C and theinclined recess G adjacent to the openings of the tubes E and E so thatyarn passing from the tube 0 to the tube E and from the tube C to thetube E make close sliding contact with the surface of the intermediateportion of the shanks. Each tube E is preferably cylindrical in form andits bore has a cross section but slightly greater than the cross sectionof yarn to be fed therethrough. Each tube E is preferably elliptical inform so that the bore thereof has the characteristics of a lateral slothaving a height substantially equal to the diameter of the bore of atube E and a width substantially greater than its height, and preferablyequal to the width of six to ten wales of the fabric to be knitted. Thewidth of the bore of a feed tube E permits yarn fed therethrough toshift laterally toward and from yarn passing through the bore of theadjacent tube E a distance greater than the width of a needle, or of awale formed by such needle from yarn supplied by the carrier.

The carrier shanks B and B have the feed tubes E and E transposed ascompared with one another, as illustrated by the auxiliary carriersshown at the left and right hand sides of Fig. 1, for in the knitting ofthe high heel splices and heel tabs of a stocking blank, one carrier isrequired having its tube E to the right of its tube E and anothercarrier is required having its tube E to the left of its tube E, so thatthe carrier for supplying reenforcing yarn for each high heel splicingwill have its wider bore E on the side of the carrier toward the selvageof the splicing.

In the utilization of a pair of such carriers for reenforcing the highheel splicings of a stocking leg fabric, they may both be connected witha usual carrier rod l of a usual type of full-fashioned knitting machinehaving additional carrier rods 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and I, to each of which maybe connected a yarn carrier of ordinary type such as illustrated by theyarn carriers 8 and 9. The yarn carriersare selectively operableindividually or in groups by connecting the respective rods I, 2, I, 4,5, 6 and I with a usual friction box (not shown).

The welt, main leg portion and main yarn of the high heel splicing andheel tabs of a stocking leg fabric 10 may be knitted by laying coursesof yarns from carriers operated by the carrier rods 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and I,or any of them, in any manner desired.

In accordance with my invention, when the knitting of the blank ID hasprogressed far enough to require the reenforcement of the high heelsplicing, the carrier l is connected 'with the friction box so as tooperate in synchronism with the carrier or carriers laying the main yarnfor the high heel splicings, ankle and instep.

The auxiliary or reenforcing carrier B for reenforcing the high heelsplicing and heel tab at the left of the fabric, shown in Figs. 1 and 2,is supplied with twoseparate yarn ends a and b from the cones c and d,the yarn ends'being fed under separate tensions of the usual type (notshown). The carrier B for laying yarns for reenforcing the high heelsplicing and heel tab at the right hand of the fabric, shown in Figs. 1and 2, is supplied with yarn ends a and b from the separate cones c andit, these yarn ends being likewise subjected to the action of usualtension devices between the cones and carriers in the usual manner. Asillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the sheer or diaphancus section e of theleg above the high heel splicings is knitted from a silk yarn, which maybe of any desired number of threads, but preferably no coarser than fourthread silk, and such silk is laid by any desired number of the usualcarriers, such as Band 9.

When the high heel splicing is begun and the carrier rod l is connectedwith the friction box, each carrier B and B begin to, lay reenforcingyarns to form the high heel splicings.

' If it be assumed that the friction box and carrier bars are moved fromright to'left in laying the initial course for the high heel splicings,the tube E of the carrier B will start to move the yarn a. from the walenext to the right hand selvage wale of the fabric before the tube E ofthe carrier B starts to move the yarn b from the wale forming the righthand selvage of the lapping relation in the initial course of the righthand high heel splicing until the carrier rod has reached its'extremeleft hand position. At this time the-yarn a. will be projected towardthe center of the fabric a distance of approximately eight wales beyondthe wales in which the yarn b is-jlald. Consequently, the selvage waleof the initial course of the right hand high heel'splicing will bereenforced by but a single reenforcing yarn b; the next succeedin wales:any desired number, of such initial course will be individuallyreenforced by both the reenforcing yarns a iand b and the last eightwales of such initial course will be reenforced only by the reenforcingyarn a; v

Simultaneously with thelaying of the reenforcing yarn in the initialcourse of the right hand high heel splicing; the carrier B willlayreenforcing yarns in the initial course of the left hand high heelsplicing. Instarting the laying of the I yarns ,a and b'from the innerportion of the fabric, the yarn a. will be started from eight wales tothe right of the starting point of the yarn b. The yarn b will not startto move to heel splice; When the. carrier rod has reached itsextremeleft hand position, the yarn b will be in position to be knitted intothe lefthand selvage wale of. the fabric while the yarn a will be inposition to be knitted into the wale next to the left: hand selvage waleof the fabric. Consequently, when the yarns laid for the initial courseof the left hand high heel splice are knitted in-by the needles,theselvage wale will be reenforced only by the yarn b, the adjacent walesofdesired number in such course will be reenforced by the knitting in ofboth the reenforcing yarns a, b and the eight wales to the rightof thedoubly reenforced wales will be reenforced only by the reenforcing yarna.

r It will, of course,'be understood that the main yarn of the initialcourse of the right hand high heel splice, the left hand high heelsplice and the intervening sheer or diaphanous portion of. the fabric islaid by .a-suitable carrier in the usual manner.

When the friction box and carrier rods are moved fromleft to right tolay the second course of the high heel splicing's, the tube E of thecarrier B starts to move the yarn a from the second waleof theffabrictoward the right before the tube E of the carrier B starts to move theyarn b fromthe selvage waleof the fabric, since the tension ontheyam bholds it while the carrier B is moved a distance equal to the width ofthe bore of the tube E. 3 When the carrier has. moved such distance,.Say eight wales, the yarns a and b are laidv by the movement of thecarrier B in overlappin'grelation with each other and with the main yarnuntil theicarrier rod has reached its extreme right hand position, Insuch position of the carrier rod the yarn awill be some eightwales tothe, right of the stopping point of: the yarn b.

' the yarn a'was stoppedlin the inltialcourse of the. right handhighheel splicing some eight courses theleft of the stopping point of theyarn b in such course, the yarn b' will be caused by the tensionthereonto lag, on the right hand posed ofthe main yarn 3 movement of thecarrier 13' in laying the second course, until the yarn b. is engaged bythe wall of theslot E adjacent to the tube E. Therealter thefurtherright hand movement of the carrier B will feed the yarns a and b injuxtaposed position -'to one another and lay them in the secondcourse-in overlapped relation with one another and with the main yarnuntil the carrier B" has reached the extreme limit of its movement tothe right. In such position of the carrier B, the yarn b will be inposition to be knitted into the right'handselvage wale ofthe fabric'and'the yam a will be in position to be knitted into the secondwala,Consequently the second course and all succeeding courses of both theright hand high heel splicing and the left hand high heel splicingwillbe heavily reenforced or lightly renforced as was the'initial course, ofs such high heel splicing.

When a desired number 01' courses have been laid and reenforced asdescribed to form, high heel splicings of desired height and contour,the operations of the main yarn can'ier or carriers will be so changedas to ,lay main yarn'courses for spaced heel tabs on opposite sides ofthe fabric; such main yarn courses for the heel tabs being laid andregulated in any usual or desired. manner.

The reenforcement of the respective heel tabs will, however, beeffected, in accordance with my invention, by the laying of yarns by thecarriers B and B in the same manner as described inconnection with there nforcement of the high heel splicings.

As illustrated in Fig. 2, the heel tab knitted at the left of thestocking fabric is'composed of any desired number of courses, in each ofwhich there is an outer selvage wale loop composed of a main yarn and asingle reenforcing yarn b; an adja cent group of wale loops of desirednumber having the main yarn doubly reenforced by both the yarns b and aand a group of wale loops toward the inner selvageof the tab having themain yam reenforced only by the reenforcing yarn a. Similarly the heeltab formed on the right hand side of the fabric is composed of a desirednumber of courses each comprising a group of' wale loops, say eight inwidth, adjacent to the inner selvage of the tab and composed of the mainyarn and reenforcing yarn a. Adjoining this group of lightly reenforcedloopsthere is a group, as shown in Fig. 3a, of wale loops composed ofthe main yarn and both of the reenforcing yarnsa' and b'," and next tothis group is a selvage wale loop comand the reenforcing yarn b. l a

As diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. 3a, the resulting stocking legblank consists of a sheer or diaphanous leg portion e formed from themain yarn or yarns or fine silk. such for instanceas two thread silk.,At the lower end of this section e there are formed the high heelsplicings f. Y The 7 high heel splicings are each composed of acontinuation of the I fine silk from which the portion .ev is knitted,and .in addition has'its outer selvage wale reenforced by the yarn b orb'f respectively,. which may be of say three thread silk. The group ofWales 9 adjoining the outer selvages are reenforced by the'yarns-a, b,or a, b respectively, andadjcin ing each such heavily reenforced sectionthereis a group or. band of wales g. in which the loops formed of thefine silk of the main courses are re-' enforced by the yarn a or arespectively, which may be of say four and a half thread silk.

"lheheeltabsh andlareeachsimilarlyformed of an outer selvage walecomposed of loops containing a main yarn and reenforcing'yarn b or b, aheavily reenforced group of wales 0 comprising loops containing the mainyarn and the reenforcing yarn a, b or a, b, respectively,*a'nd thelightly reenforced group of wales 0' adjacent to the inner selvages ofthe tabs and comprising loops containing the main yarns and reenforcingyarn a or a respectively.

A foot blank composed of either sheer knitted fabric or lightlyreenforced knitted fabric may be readily attached by means of transferneedles totheinnerselvageedgesoftheheeltabs as shown in Fig. 3. when theouter selvage edges of the high-heel splicings and the heel tabs areseamed up. the lightly reenforced selvage loops areconcealedintheseamminimisethe siseofthe roll along the seam, and theback heel is of uniform and attractive appearance.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a knitting machine, the combination with a bank of knittingneedles and a pair of carriers movable to and fro across diiferentgroups of needles of said bank, each of said carriers having a pluralityof yarn guides, and the yarn guides of said carriers which are remotefrom one another having wider yarn spaces than the yarn guides of saidcarriers which are nearer to one another.

2. In a knitting machine.. the combination with abankofknittingneedles,ofa mainyarncarrier movable to and fro across needlesof said bank and a reenforcing yarn carrier having a plurality of yarnguides of diii'erent widths. the reenforcing yarn laid by the widerguide lagging behind the reenforcing yarn laid by the narrower guideupon movement of the reenforcing carrier in one direction and the yhrnlaid by the narrower guide lagging a lesser distance behind the yarnlaid by the wider guide upon the movement of the reenforcement carrierin the opposite direction.

3. In a knitting machine, the combination with a bank of knittingneedles, of a yarncarrier movable back and forth across needles of saidbank and simultaneously feeding a plurality of yarns to needles of saidbank sufiicient in :numher to form a substantial heel area of tripleyarn thickness, said carrier having means permitting the lagging of oneof the yarns fed thereby a distance behind the other yarn fed therebyequal to the width of a heel-border area of double yarn thickness onmovement of the carrier in one direction and for feeding a continuationof such lagging yarn and a continuation of the other yarn insubstantially juxtaposed relation on the movement of the carrier in theopposite direction.

4. In a knitting machine, the combination with a bank of knittingneedles, of a yarn carrier having guides for a plurality of yarns, theyarns fed by said carrier being fed in closely juxtaposed relation onmovement of the carrier in one direction and in more widely spacedrelation to one another on movement of the carrier in the oppositedirection.

5. In a knitting machine, the combination with a bank of needles, ofmeans comprising a single carrier rod for laying a plurality of yams inthe path of said needles, said means laying one of said yarns aplurality of wales beyond the other of said yarns on the movement ofsaid carrier rod in one direction and said yarns overlapping one anotherover a plurality of wales to substantially the selvage of the fabric onmovement of the carrier rod in the opposite direction. 7

6. In a knitting machine, the combination with a bank of needles, ofmeans comprising a single carrier rod for laying a plurality of yarns inthe path of said needles, said means laying one of.

said yarns a plurality of wales beyond the other of said yarns on themovement of said carrier rod in one direction and said means laying oneof said yarns a lesser number of wales beyond the other on the movementof said carrier rod in the opposite direction, said yarns overlappingone another over a plurality of wales.

7. In the knitting of fabric so as to form wales and courses providing amain heel area of triple yarn thickness and a heel-border area of doubleyarn thickness, the steps whch consist in laying in a course a main yarnand a plurality of reenforcing yarns with all of said yarns inoverlapping relation, projecting one of said reenforcing yarns a numberof wales beyond the other reenforcing yarn at one end of a course andprojecting a continuation of the last named reenforcing yarn a lessernumber of wales beyond the first named reenforcing yarn at the oppositeend of a succeeding course.

8. In a knitting machine having a bank of needles for knitting yarns toform wales and courses, means for laying a course comprising a main yarnbeginning at a selvage edge of a fabric, means for laying in said coursea. reenforcing yarn beginning at a selvage edge of said fabric, meansfor laying in said course a further reenforcing yarn beginning at a waleremoved from the selvage edge of said fabric, said means laying saidyarns in overlapping relation overa number of wales, means for stoppingthe laying of said ilrst reenforcing yarn in said course whilecontinuing the laying of said main yarn and said second reenforcing yarnin said course a distance greater than the starting point of the latterfrom the selvage edge. v

9. In the knitting of fabric so as to form wales and courses providing amain heel area of triple yarn thickness and a heel border area of doubleyarn thickness, the steps which consist in laying a course including amain yarn and at least two reenforcing yarns, beginning the laying ofone of said reenforcing yarns at one wale of said fabric, beginning thelaying of the other reenforcing yarn at a different wale of said fabric,laying the reenforcing yarns in overlapping relation over a number ofwales of the fabric suiilcient to form a heel area of triple yarnthickness, stoppin the laying of one of the reenforcing yarns in saidcourse and continuing the laying of the other of the reenforcing yarnsin said course a number of wales past such point of stoppage greaterthan the distance between their starting points so as to form aheel-border area of double thread thickness.

10. In the kniting of fabrics to form courses and wales, the steps whichconsist in laying a course including a main yarn and at least tworeenforcing yarns in overlapped relation to form a heel area of tripleyarn thickness, and shifting the reinforcing yams toward one an other inthe laying of one course and shifting the reenforcing yarns away fromone another in the laying of another course.

11. In the knitting of a stocking blank reenforced to form a heel withina heel" with a heel main area of triple yarn thickness and a heel-borderarea of double yarn thickness, the steps which consist in laying a yarncourse including a main yarn and at least two reenforcing yarns, all ofsaid yarns being laid concurrently and in overlapping relationcoextensively with a heel area of triple yarn thickness and with one ofthe reenforcing yarns trailing the other reenforcing yarn a. distanceequal to the width of the heelborder area; concurrently knitting all ofsaid yarns into a course of loops; laying a second yarn course including.a main yarn and said two reenforcing yarns, all of said yarns beinglaid concurrently and in overlapping relation coextensively with saidheel area of triple yarn thickness with the two reentorcing yarns inclose juxtaposition to one another; and concurrently knitting all theyarns of the second course into loops interlacing with the loops of thefirst course of loops.

ISAAC C. EBERLY.

